Waving flag layer
The flag in the above screenshot is rendered with the waving flag layer.
What can I do with the waving flag layer?
With the waving flag layer you can render a waving flag.
How do I add a waving flag layer?
Choose LAYER > Add layer > Add waving flag layer... to add a new waving flag layer.
The new waving flag layer can be selected from the layers dropdown to make it the active layer.
Examples
The installer comes with shows demonstrating the possibilities of the waving flag layer. Choose FILE > Open show... and select a show from the BluffTitler/Media/Shows/Wavingflag folder.
To quickly switch between your own shows and the ones that came with the installer, click on the Personal and App buttons in the upper right corner of the file dialog.
Cloth simulation model
The waving flag layer is simulated using a mass spring damper model. In this model the vertices of the cloth model are connected with springs.
The cloth simulation is not deterministic. The flag is not reset when you start playing/exporting and the wind noise is random so the cloth looks different every time.
Pre-export simulation time
It takes a few simulation steps before the flag hangs realistically. To prevent this initialization time to appear in your exported video when using a playlist or server rendering, you can use the Pre-export simulation time option int the FILE > Show properties... dialog.
Waving flag layer style 1
Mirror back
Mirrors the back of the flag.
Do not mirror back
This style can be handy for flags with texts.
Waving flag layer style 2
Cord inside flag
The cord is sewn inside the flag.
Cord outside flag
This style can be handy for transparent flags.
Waving flag layer properties
Position
The position of the flag.
1st slider: horizontal (x) position
2nd slider: vertical (y) position
3rd slider: depth (z) position
Press <F2> to render the coordinate system.
Rotation
The rotation of the flag.
1st slider: heading
2nd slider: pitch
3rd slider: roll
Press <F2> to render the coordinate system.
Size
The size of the flag.
Colour
The colour of the flag.
1st slider: red
2nd slider: green
3rd slider: blue
When you press <F3> and the mouse is inside the tool window, the standard Windows colour dialog is presented. When the mouse is outside the tool window, the colour of the current mouse position is copied: it's a colour picker!
Specular colour
The colour used for specular highlights.
1st slider: red
2nd slider: green
3rd slider: blue
When you press <F3> and the mouse is inside the tool window, the standard Windows colour dialog is presented. When the mouse is outside the tool window, the colour of the current mouse position is copied: it's a colour picker!
When this property is (0, 0, 0), the specular light colour is used.
Specularity
The size of the specular highlights.
Set the specular colour with the Specular colour property.
Transparency
The transparency of the flag.
0 means fully opaque
1 means fully transparent (invisible)
Depth bias
This property can be used to solve sorting problems.
Layers have to be sorted according to their distance to the camera. This sometimes goes wrong when using very big, very small or irregular shaped layers. When this happens, use the Depth bias property to fix it.
Wind force
The direction and size of the wind force.
1st slider: horizontal (x) direction
2nd slider: vertical (y) direction
3rd slider: depth (z) direction
For realistic behaviour, prevent using 0. For example to make the flag wave to the right use (2, 0.1, 0.1). And to make it hang down use (0.01, -1, 0.01).
Wind noise
Without some noise, the flag will eventually hang still. Use the Wind noise property to keep it alive.
Max stretch
The elasticity of the flag.
Air resistance
The air damps the movement of the flag. Use a higher value to make it less flappy.
Pole radius
The radius of the pole. This is used for collision detection.
Attached to pole
This determines which parts are connected to the pole.
1st slider: top flag
2nd slider: bottom flag
3rd slider: bottom cord
Flag position
The vertical position of the flag relative to the pole.
Cord length, radius
1st slider: the length of the cord
2nd slider: the radius of the cord
Cord colour
The colour of the cord.
1st slider: red
2nd slider: green
3rd slider: blue
When you press <F3> and the mouse is inside the tool window, the standard Windows colour dialog is presented. When the mouse is outside the tool window, the colour of the current mouse position is copied: it's a colour picker!
Bounding box
With this property you can define the maximum size of the flag. Press <F2> to visualise the box. This is important for templates that must render flags with different dimensions correctly.